Systems and method for using closed captions to initiate display of related content on a second display device

ABSTRACT

In some implementations, a method for using closed captions in a double display scenario includes, obtaining a video stream configured to be displayed on a first display device. The video stream includes closed captions. The method also includes, identifying one or more symbols or words included in the closed captions; and obtaining a set of instructions. The set of instructions includes instructions to display content information relating to at least one symbol or word in the one or more symbols or words. The method further includes, in response to obtaining, and in accordance with, the set of instructions, executing one or more applications based on a type of the content information; and formatting for display, on a second display device, output from the one or more applications. The applications include one of: a web browser, a music application, a feed reader application, a coupon application, and a content viewer.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/927,015,filed Jun. 25, 2013, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,849,959 on Sep. 30, 2014,which is a continuation of and claims benefit of priority under 35U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/171,326, filed Jun.28, 2011, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,484,313 on Jul. 9, 2013, which is anon-provisional application of and claims benefit of priority under 35U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/490,005, filed May25, 2011. Content of each of the above applications is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present description relates generally to providing information to auser.

BACKGROUND

Video content sometimes includes auditory or visual messages that promptviewers to take some action relating to the content of the video. Forexample, a television commercial may prompt a user to visit a product'swebsite associated with an advertised product to obtain coupons orinformation about the product. In another example, during the broadcastof a television program or movie, a message may appear prompting aviewer to visit a website to view more information about the people,places or things depicted in or associated with the television programor movie. Even without being prompted to, many users are interested in aperson, place or thing related to the video content they are watching.Typically, to obtain information relevant to a video stream, a userwould need to visit a website using an Internet-enabled device. Existingmethods are inefficient because they require users to take some actionthat is outside the viewing experience. Also many viewers may miss orignore audio messages and visual messages that provide additionalinformation about video content, and it may be inconvenient for manyviewers to operate a computing device while viewing video content.

SUMMARY

The methods and systems described herein provide an effective way todisplay information relevant to video content while a user is viewingthe video content. For example, a commercial about tea may be displayedon a display device and while the user is viewing the commercial, aclient device connected to the display device parses the closed captioncontent to obtain a set of information, sends the set of information toa server, obtains a set of instructions from the server and performs oneor more functions in accordance with the received set of instructions.The one or more functions display information relating to the closedcaption content. In this example, the set of instructions includeinstructions to execute one or more applications such as a browser todisplay a web page with information about a particular type or brand oftea, a media player to show an instructional video on preparing tea, afeed reader application to display articles about tea, or a coupon bookapplication to present coupons for the tea that was the subject of thecommercial. The one or more applications are executed while thecommercial is being played and the one or more applications areconcurrently displayed with the commercial on the display device.

In some implementations, a method for using closed captions to initiatedisplay of related content on a second display device includes:obtaining a video stream that is configured to be displayed on a firstdisplay device. The video stream includes closed captions. In someimplementations, the method also includes: identifying one or moresymbols or words included in the closed captions; and obtaining a set ofinstructions. The set of instructions includes instructions to displaycontent information relating to at least one symbol or word in the oneor more symbols or words. The method further includes: in response toobtaining, and in accordance with, the set of instructions, executingone or more applications based on a type of the content information; andformatting for display, on a second display device, output from the oneor more applications. In some implementations, the one or moreapplications include at least a content viewing application

In some implementations, a method for using closed captions to initiatedisplay of related content on a second display device includes:obtaining a video stream including closed captions that is configured tobe displayed on a first display device; forwarding to a server one ormore symbols or words included in the closed captions; and obtainingfrom the server a set of instructions related to the one or more symbolsor words. In some implementations, the set of instructions includesinstructions to display on a second display device different from thefirst display device content information relating to at least one of theone or more symbols or words. The method further includes, in responseto obtaining, and in accordance with, the set of instructions, executingone or more respective applications based on a type of the contentinformation; and formatting for display on the second display deviceoutput from the one or more applications. In some implementations, theapplications include one of: a web browser, a music application, a feedreader application, a coupon application, and a content viewer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a distributed client-serversystem in accordance with some implementations.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating the structure of an exemplaryserver system according to some implementations.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating the structure of an exemplarybroadcast system according to some implementations.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of an exemplaryclient device according to some implementations.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an overview of the process ofdisplaying information.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E are an exemplary screenshot according tosome implementations.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the process of displayinginformation.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the process of determining a set ofinstructions based on a set of information extracted from closedcaptions.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout thedrawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the distributed system 100implemented for some of the implementations. The client-server system100 includes: one or more client devices 102, a communication network104, a server system 106, a display device 108 and a broadcast system128. The server system 106 is coupled to the one or more client devices102 and the broadcast system 128 by the communication network 104.

The broadcast system 128 broadcasts the video streams to the one or moreclient devices 102. The server system 106 receives a request containinga set of information derived from closed caption content, determines aset of instructions based on the set of information and sends the set ofinstructions to the client device 102 for execution. When executed bythe client device 102, the set of instructions cause the client device102 to display information relating to the set of information extractedfrom the closed captions of a video stream.

According to some implementations, a video or video stream is a sequenceof images or frames representing scenes with objects in motion. A videodisplays a number of images or frames per second. For example, a videocommonly displays 30 frames per second. In contrast, a still image asused herein stands alone, is static or still and does not include motionor change as a video typically does. An image herein can be included orembedded within a larger image or a video.

Closed captioning refers to the ability to display caption text toselect members of an audience. Closed captions typically display atranscription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs or withslight delay (either verbatim or in edited form), sometimes includingnon-speech elements. The term “closed” in closed captions indicates thatnot all viewers can see the caption. Only users who choose to decode oractivate closed captions are able to view them. Closed captions aredistinguished from open captions, which are visible to all users. Closedcaptions are also distinguished from subtitles. Subtitles assume aviewer can hear but cannot understand the language or accent, sosubtitles only transcribe dialogue and some on-screen text. Closedcaptions aim to describe to the deaf and hard of hearing all significantaudio content including spoken dialogue, music, sound effects, andnon-speech information such as the identity of speakers and their mannerof speaking. Closed captions are sometimes created by the contentcreator or broadcaster of the content.

In some implementations, the server system 106 is implemented as asingle server system, while in other implementations it is implementedas a distributed system of multiple servers. Solely for convenience ofexplanation, the server system 106 is described below as beingimplemented on a single server system. In some implementations, thebroadcast system 128 is implemented as a single server system, while inother implementations it is implemented as a distributed system ofmultiple servers. Solely for convenience of explanation, the broadcastsystem 128 is described below as being implemented on a single serversystem.

The communication network(s) 104 can be any wired or wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or wide area network (WAN), such as an intranet, anextranet, or the Internet. It is sufficient that the communicationnetwork 104 provides communication capability between the one or moreclient devices 102 and the server system 106. In some implementations,the communication network 104 uses the HyperText Transport Protocol(HTTP) to transport information using the Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). HTTP permits client devices 102 toaccess various resources available via the communication network 104.The various implementations, however, are not limited to the use of anyparticular protocol.

In some implementations, the server system 106 includes a front endserver 112 that facilitates communication between the server system 106and the network 104. In some implementations, the front end server 112is configured to receive a request for a set of instructions. In someimplementations, the front end server 112 is configured to send a set ofinstructions to a requesting client device 102. In some implementations,the front end server 112 is configured to send content files or andlinks to content files or content files. In this context, the terms“content file” means any electronic file of any format including, butnot limited to, a video file, an image file, a music file, a web page,an email message, an SMS message, a content feed, an advertisement, acoupon, a playlist and an XML content file. In some implementations, thefront end server 112 is also configured to send a video stream to aclient 102.

A content feed (or channel) is a resource or service that provides alist of content items that are present, recently added, or recentlyupdated at a feed source. A content item in a content feed may includethe content associated with the item itself (the actual content that thecontent item specifies), a title (sometimes called a headline), and/or adescription of the content, a network location or locator (e.g., URL) ofthe content, or any combination thereof. For example, if the contentitem identifies a text article, the content item may include the articleitself inline, along with the title (or headline), and locator.Alternatively, a content item may include the title, description andlocator, but not the article content. Thus, some content items mayinclude the content associated with those items, while others containlinks to the associated content but not the full content of the items. Acontent item may also include additional metadata that providesadditional information about the content. The full version of thecontent may be any machine-readable data, including but not limited toweb pages, images, digital audio, digital video, Portable Content fileFormat (PDF) content files, and so forth.

In some implementations, a content feed is specified using a contentsyndication format, such as RSS. RSS is an acronym that stands for “richsite summary,” “RDF site summary,” or “Really Simple Syndication.” “RSS”may refer to any of a family of formats based on the Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML) for specifying a content feed and content items includedin the feed. In some other implementations, other content syndicationformats, such as the Atom syndication format or the VCALENDAR calendarformat, may be used to specify content feeds.

In some implementations, the server system 106 includes an identitydatabase 116 that stores one or more relevant identities and associatedmetrics. An identity can represent a person, place or thing and theassociated metrics measure the importance of the respective identity. Insome implementations, the identity database 116 is a distributeddatabase.

In some implementations, the server system 106 includes anidentification module 114 that manages and retrieves information storedin the identity database 116. The identification module 114 receivesrequests and returns identities stored in the identity database 116 thatmatch the request.

In some implementations, the server system 106 includes a user database124 that stores user data. The user data for a respective user includesa user identifier, associated content files and preferences. In someimplementations, the user database 124 is a distributed database.

In some implementations, the server system 106 includes a contentdatabase 122. In some implementations, the content database 122 storesvideos, images, music, web pages, email messages, SMS messages, contentfeeds, advertisements, coupons, playlists XML content files. In someimplementations, the content database 122 stores links to videos,images, music, web pages, email messages, SMS messages, content feeds,advertisements, coupons, playlists XML content files. In someimplementations, the content database 122 is a distributed database.

In some implementations, the server system 106 includes an instructionmodule 118 that generates a set of instructions to be executed by aclient device 102. The instruction module 118 generates a set ofinstructions based on information contained in a request 220 and/orinformation the user database 124. In some implementations, theinstruction module 118 selects one or more content files and/or one ormore links to content files based on a set of information contained in arequest. The instruction module 118 sends the one or more content filesand/or the one or more links to content files to the front end server112 for transmission to a requesting client device 102.

In some implementations, a user interacts with the server system 106 viaa client device 102. The client devices 102 may be any suitable computerdevice that is capable of connecting to the communication network 104,such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet device, netbook,internet kiosk, personal digital assistant, mobile phone, gaming device,or any other device that is capable of communicating with the serversystem 106. The client devices 102 typically include one or moreprocessors, non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive or flash driveand a display. In some implementations, the client devices 102 haveinput devices such as a keyboard and a mouse (as shown in FIG. 3). Insome implementations, the client devices 102 have touch screen displaysand/or microphones for input. In some implementations, the client deviceis connected to a projector. In some implementations, the client device102 is connected to a display device 108. In some implementations, theclient device 102 includes the display device 108. Stated in anotherway, in some implementations, the client device and the display deviceare contained in a single device. In some implementations, the displaydevice 108 is a television or a screen, such an LCD or LED display.

In some implementations, the client devices 102 receive video streams125 from one or more broadcast systems 128. In some implementations, theclient device 102 receives video streams from cable television inputs,satellite receivers, from a network connection or from an over-the-airantenna.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a server system 106, inaccordance with one implementation of the present implementation. Theserver system 106 typically includes one or more processing units(CPU's) 202, one or more network or other communications interfaces 208,memory 206, and one or more communication buses 204 for interconnectingthese components. Memory 206 includes high-speed random access memory,such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM o other random access solid state memorydevices; and may include non-volatile memory, such as one or moremagnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flashmemory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices.Memory 206 may optionally include one or more storage devices remotelylocated from the CPU(s) 202. Memory 206, including the non-volatile andvolatile memory device(s) within memory 206, comprises a computerreadable storage medium. In some implementations, memory 206 or thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of memory 206 store thefollowing programs, modules and data structures, or a subset thereofincluding an operation system 216, a network communication module 218, aidentification module 114, a identity database 116, a instruction module118, a content database 122 and a user database 124.

The operating system 216 includes procedures for handling various basicsystem services and for performing hardware dependent tasks.

The network communication module 218 facilitates communication withother devices via the one or more communication network interfaces 208(wired or wireless) and one or more communication networks, such as theInternet, other wide area networks, local area networks, metropolitanarea networks, and so on.

The identity database 116 stores one or more identities 234. Arespective identity 234-2 includes a name 240, an importance metric 242and associated actions 244. The name 240 identifies the identity. Forexample, a name 240 could be the name of a person, place or thing. Theimportance metric 242 measures the importance of the identity and isused to determine which identity among a set of identities is mostimportant. The associated actions 244 specify one or more actions suchas sending a message, displaying a message and executing an application.In some implementations, the associated action 244 specifies one or morecontent files in the content database 122.

The content database 122 stores content files and/or links to contentfiles. In some implementations, the content database 122 stores media232 such as videos, images and music. In some implementations, thecontent database 122 stores advertisements 226, coupons 226, playlists228, content feeds 230 and XML content files. In some implementations,the content database 122 stores web pages 233, email messages and SMSmessages. In some implementations, the content database 122 includeslinks to videos, images, music, web pages, email messages, SMS messages,content feeds, advertisements, coupons, playlists and XML content files.In some implementations, at the content files in the content database122 include a metric measuring the popularity of the respective contentfile.

The user database 124 stores user data 236 for one or more users. Insome implementations, the user data 236-2 for a respective user includesa user identifier 246 and associated files 248. In some implementations,user data 236-2 for a respective user includes preferences 250. The useridentifier 230 identifies a user. In some implementations, theassociated files 248 comprise a list of identifiers of content filesstored in the content database 122 that are associated with the user.The files 248 associated with the user can include any file stored inthe content database 122. In some implementations, the preferences 250include categories of information in which the user is or is notinterested. For example, a user may have no interest in sports and aninterest in science fiction. In some implementations, the preferences250 include counts for categories for interest. For example, eachcategory may include a number or score representing the number of timesa user has viewed an item associated with the category. In someimplementations, the preferences 250 indicate one or more applicationsthat the user prefers or does not prefer. For example, the preferences250 may indicate that the user prefers to have songs added to user'splaylist. In another example, the preferences 250 may indicate that theuser prefers not to receive coupon offers.

The instruction module 118 generates a set of instructions 358 based oninformation contained in a request and sends the set of instructions toa client 102.

In some implementations the instruction module 116 generates a set ofinstructions 358 in response to receiving a request 220 from a client102. In some implementations, the request 220 includes a user identifier262 and a set of information 350. The user identifier 262 identifies auser with whom the request is associated. For example, the useridentifier 262 can be an IP address associated with a client device 102or an alphanumeric value chosen by the user or assigned by the serverthat uniquely identifies the user. In some implementations, the set ofinformation 350 includes information parsed from the contents of aclosed caption stream 265.

In some implementations, the set of information 350 includes stringsconsisting of alphabet characters, numbers, symbols or any combinationthereof. In some implementations, the set of information 350 includesthe name of a person, place or thing, and additional information such asa name of an application. For example, the set of information 350 mayinclude a name of a music artist and may indicate a media application.In some implementations, the set of information 350 includes the name ofa video stream and/or the category of the video stream. For example, theset of information 350 may include the name of a movie and the categoryor genre of the movie (e.g., drama, science fiction etc.). In someimplementations, the set of information 350 includes a set ofinstructions. In some implementations, the set of instructions includeinstructions to invoke one or more applications. In someimplementations, the set of instructions include instructions to displayand/or send one or more messages. In some implementations, the messagesinclude email messages and SMS messages.

In some implementations, the instruction module 118 stores the set ofinformation 350 received in a request 220 in the user database 124, andassociates the set of information 350 with a user identified by therequest 220. In some implementations, the set of information 350contained in a request 220 from a respective user is used to determinepreferences for the respective user. For example, the set of information350 may contain category information (e.g., science fiction) of contenta respective user has viewed. In this example, the instruction module118 increments the respective category counts stored in the userpreferences 250 for the respective user.

In some implementations, the instruction module 118 generates a set ofinstructions 358 based on information contained in a request 220. Insome implementations, the instruction module 118 generates a set ofinstructions 358 based on the user preferences 250 and/or the set ofinformation 350 contained in a request 220.

In some implementations, the instruction module 116 sends at least aportion of the set of information 350 to the identification module 114to obtain one or more relevant identities 234. The identification module114 matches information contained in the set of information 350 to oneor more identities 234 in the identity database 116. In someimplementations, the identification module 114 parses the set ofinformation 350 to obtain parsed information and generates searchqueries with the parsed information. For example, a set of information350 may include a list of proper nouns and the identification module 114may construct a query with each proper noun. In some implementations,the set of information 350 includes one or more sentences, specialcharacters and/or symbols. In some implementations, the one or moresentences are used as queries to the identity database 116. In someimplementations, a predefined amount of text following a specialcharacter in the set of information 350 is used as a query to theidentity database 116. For example, if the set of information 350includes the text “#actor person x” the text “person x” would be used asa query.

The generated queries are sent to the identity database 116 to findpotential matches. In some implementations, the identification module114 filters the search results based on the importance metric 242associated with the respective identities. For example, theidentification module 114 may select identities that have an importancemetric 242 above a predefined threshold or may select the top fewidentities among a set of identities. The identification module 114sends one or more determined identities to the instruction module 118.

In some implementations, the instruction module 118 receives the one ormore determined identities from the instruction module 118 anddetermines a set of instructions 358 based on the one or more determinedidentities. The instruction module 118 selects an identity from the oneor more determined identities. For example, the instruction module 118may select the identity with the highest associated importance metric242. In some implementations, the selected identity is determined basedon preferences 250 associated with the user identified by the useridentifier 262. For example, the instruction module 118 may select oneor more sports related identities when the user's preference indicatesthat the user has an affinity for sports.

After an identity is selected, the instruction module 118 generates aset of instructions 358. In some implementations, the instruction module118 determines a set of instructions for each identity determined fromthe set of information 350. In some implementations, the set ofinstructions 358 is based on the associated action 244 for the selectedidentity. For example, if the selected identity is the name of ahistorical figure, the associated action 244 may specify showing awebpage with information about the historical figure. In someimplementations, the set of instructions 358 is based on the one or moredetermined identities and user preferences 250 for the user identifiedby the user identifier 262. For example, a user's preferences 250 mayindicate applications or actions that the user prefers or does notprefer. For example, a user may prefer that certain applications are notexecuted on the user's device. In another example, the user may preferto receive information in a content feed.

In some implementations, the instruction module 118 uses the one or moredetermined identities returned by the identification module 118 togenerate search queries to identify relevant content files in thecontent database 122. For example, if the one or more determinedidentities include the name of an actor, the instruction module 118 maydetermine content files such as web pages, videos, pictures and newsstories that the actor is associated with and determines which one wouldbe most interesting to a user based metrics associated with the contentfiles. For example, the metrics may measure popularity or relevance.

In some implementations, the set of instructions 358 includesinstructions to invoke one or more functions or applications on a clientdevice 102. In some implementations, the one or more applications areselected from the group consisting of a media application, a feed readerapplication, a browser application and a coupon book application. Insome implementations, the one or more applications are selected based onthe one or more content files identified using the relevant identities.In some implementations, the set of instructions 358 includesinstructions to invoke an application and instructions to direct theinvoked application to download one or more content files contained inthe content database 118. For example, the instruction module 118 maygenerate instructions to invoke a feed reader device and instructions tocause the feed reader device to download content items relating to theactor. In another example, the instruction module 118 may generateinstructions to invoke a web browser and instructions to cause thebrowser to be navigated to a particular website (e.g., a productwebsite). Additional examples of application execution are discussed inthe discussion of FIGS. 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E.

In some implementations, the set of instructions 358 includeinstructions to display a message on the display 313 of the clientdevice 102. In some implementations, the set of instructions 358includes instructions to send an email message or SMS message to a user.The content of the email message or SMS is related to the set ofinformation 350. For example, the message may contain a promotionaloffer relating to pronouns contained in the set of information 350.

The instruction module 118 generates and sends the set of instructions358 to a client device 102 in response to a request from the clientdevice 102. In some implementations, the instructions 358 generated bythe instruction module 118 are contained in a content feed. In someimplementations, the instructions module 118 retrieves and sends one ormore content files and/or content file links (stored in the contentdatabase 122) with the set of instructions 358.

Each of the above identified elements may be stored in one or more ofthe previously mentioned memory devices, and each of the modules orprograms corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a functiondescribed above. The set of instructions can be executed by one or moreprocessors (e.g., the CPUs 202). The above identified modules orprograms (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented asseparate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus varioussubsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged invarious implementations. In some implementations, memory 206 may store asubset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore,memory 206 may store additional modules and data structures notdescribed above.

Although FIG. 2A shows a server system, FIG. 2A is intended more asfunctional description of the various features which may be present in aset of servers than as a structural schematic of the implementationsdescribed herein. In practice, and as recognized by those of ordinaryskill in the art, items shown separately could be combined and someitems could be separated. For example, some items (e.g., operatingsystem 216 and network communication module 218) shown separately inFIG. 2A could be implemented on single servers and single items could beimplemented by one or more servers. The actual number of servers used toimplement the server system 106 and how features are allocated amongthem will vary from one implementation to another, and may depend inpart on the amount of data traffic that the system must handle duringpeak usage periods as well as during average usage periods.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating a broadcast system 128, inaccordance with one implementation of the present implementation. Thebroadcast system 128 typically includes one or more processing units(CPU's) 358, one or more network or other communications interfaces 262,memory 268, a transmission interface 266 and one or more communicationbuses 262 for interconnecting these components. Memory 268 includeshigh-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or otherrandom access solid state memory devices; and may include non-volatilememory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical diskstorage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid statestorage devices. Memory 268 may optionally include one or more storagedevices remotely located from the CPU(s) 358. Memory 268, including thenon-volatile and volatile memory device(s) within memory 268, comprisesa computer readable storage medium. In some implementations, memory 268or the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of memory 268store the following programs, modules and data structures, or a subsetthereof including an operation system 270, a network communicationmodule 272, a video module 273 and a video stream database 276.

The transmission interface 266 transmits video streams via radiotransmissions, satellite transmissions or through cable lines.

The operating system 270 includes procedures for handling various basicsystem services and for performing hardware dependent tasks.

The network communication module 272 facilitates communication withother devices via the one or more communication network interfaces 350(wired or wireless) and one or more communication networks, such as theInternet, other wide area networks, local area networks, metropolitanarea networks, and so on. In some implementations, the networkcommunication module 272 transfers video streams stored in the videostream database 268 via the network interface 350.

The video stream database 274 stores video streams 276. In someimplementations, video streams 276 in the video stream database 274include video content 254 and closed captions 256.

The video module 273 sends one or more video streams 276 stored in thevideo stream database 274 to one or more client devices 102.

In some implementations, the functionality of broadcast system 108 andserver system 106 can be combined on a single server system.

Each of the above identified elements may be stored in one or more ofthe previously mentioned memory devices, and each of the modules orprograms corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a functiondescribed above. The set of instructions can be executed by one or moreprocessors (e.g., the CPUs 358). The above identified modules orprograms (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented asseparate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus varioussubsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged invarious implementations. In some implementations, memory 268 may store asubset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore,memory 268 may store additional modules and data structures notdescribed above.

Although FIG. 2B shows a broadcast system, FIG. 2B is intended more asfunctional description of the various features which may be present in aset of servers than as a structural schematic of the implementationsdescribed herein. In practice, and as recognized by those of ordinaryskill in the art, items shown separately could be combined and someitems could be separated. For example, some items (e.g., operatingsystem 270 and network communication module 272) shown separately inFIG. 2B could be implemented on single servers and single items could beimplemented by one or more servers. The actual number of servers used toimplement the broadcast system 128 and how features are allocated amongthem will vary from one implementation to another, and may depend inpart on the amount of data traffic that the system must handle duringpeak usage periods as well as during average usage periods.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a client device 102, inaccordance with some implementations. The client device 102 typicallyincludes one or more processing units (CPU's) 302, one or more networkor other communications interfaces 308, memory 306, and one or morecommunication buses 304, for interconnecting these components. Theclient device 102 may also include a user interface comprising a displaydevice 313 and a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device) 314.Memory 306 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM,DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices; and mayinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 306 may optionallyinclude one or more storage devices remotely located from the CPU(s)302. Memory 306, or alternatively the non-volatile memory device(s)within memory 306, comprises a computer readable storage medium. In someimplementations, the client device 102 is a portable electronic devicewith a touch screen display. In some implementations, memory 306 or thecomputer readable storage medium of memory 306 store the followingprograms, modules and data structures, or a subset thereof includingoperation system 316, network communication module 318, user interfacemodule 322, parsing module 126, applications 328 and data 342.

The client device 102 includes a video input/output 350 for inputtingand outputting video. In some implementations, the video input/output350 is configured to receive video streams from radio transmissions,satellite transmissions and cable lines. In some implementations thevideo input/output 350 is connected to a cable box. In someimplementations, the video input/output 350 is connected to a satellitedish. In some implementations, the video input/output 350 is connectedto an antenna.

In some implementations, the client device 102 includes a televisiontuner 352 for receiving and recording television video streams.

The operating system 316 includes procedures for handling various basicsystem services and for performing hardware dependent tasks.

The network communication module 318 facilitates communication withother devices via the one or more communication network interfaces 304(wired or wireless) and one or more communication networks, such as theInternet, other wide area networks, local area networks, metropolitanarea networks, and so on.

The user interface module 322 tracks user input and selections to theclient device 102.

The graphics module 320 displays the user interfaces associated with theapplications 328.

The data 342 includes video streams 344. The video streams 344 includevideo content 348 and closed captions 350.

In some implementations, the applications 328 include a browser 330, amedia application 332, a coupon book application 336 and a feed readerapplication 340. The browser 330 allows a user to view web pages. Themedia application 332 plays videos, music, displays images and managesplaylists 334. The feed reader application 340 displays content feeds341. The coupon book application 336 displays and storescoupons/advertisements 338.

The parsing module 126 parses closed captions in the video stream togenerate a set of information, sends the set of information to a server106, receives a set of instructions from the server 106 in response tosending the set of information and executes the set of instructions.

In some implementations, the parsing module 126 parses closed captionsin a video stream to determine a set of information 350. The parsingmodule 126 parses the content of the closed captions. For example, ifthe closed captions included the text, “hello world,” the parsing modulewould parse the text, “hello world.” In some implementations, the closedcaptions include text, numbers, symbols or any combination thereof.

In some implementations, the parsing module 126 identifies one or morespecial characters in the closed captions. The special characters may bedefined in a list that is stored in the parsing module 126. The specialcharacters may be defined by the provider or broadcaster of a videostream. In some implementations, the parsing module 126 identifies oneor more special characters and a predefined amount of text following theone or more special characters. The parsing module 126 includes thespecial characters and/or the predefined amount of text in the set ofinformation 350. In some implementations, the special characters includesymbols, numbers, text or any combination thereof. For example, abroadcaster or content provider may insert symbol “#” into a closedcaption to emphasize that text following the symbol is relevant forgenerating a set of instructions. The text following the symbol mayinclude instructions or may include information from which instructionsshould be derived. For example, a closed caption may include “#actorperson x” to indicate that person x is an actor. By inserting specialcharacters into the closed captioning of a video program, a contentprovider can provide relevant information to viewers of the videoprogram while the video program is being played.

In some implementations, the parsing module 126 identifies sentences inclosed captions and includes the identified sentences in the set ofinformation 350. For example, the parsing module 126 may identifysentences by detecting periods or other punctuation marks in the closedcaptions. The parsing module 126 includes one or more of the identifiedsentences in the set of information 350.

In some implementations, the parsing module 126 identifies one or moreproper nouns in the closed captions and includes the proper nouns in theset of information 350. For example, the parsing module 126 may selectcapitalized words in the closed captions. In some implementations, theone or more proper nouns are selected if they match one or more propernouns stored in the parsing module 126. The proper nouns may correspondto a person, place or thing. For example, the parsing module 126 mayparse the closed captions to determine the names of one or more people,the name of a product or company or the name of a country. Theinstruction module 118 can use this information to issue specificrequests to the server 106, to return a link to a web page about theperson, or place identified by the proper noun or to return a mediaplaylist of media items (e.g., songs or movies) by or about the personidentified by the proper noun.

In some implementations, the set of information 350 is sent to a server106 in a request 220 generated by the request module 352. In someimplementations, the request 356 includes a user identifier of a user ofthe client 102.

In response to sending the request 220, the parsing module 126 receivesa set of instructions 358 from a server remotely located from the client102. In some implementations, the set of instructions 358 are containedin a content feed. In some implementations the parsing module 126receives one or more content files in response to the request.

The parsing module 126 executes the set of instructions 358 in responseto receiving the set of instructions 358. In some implementations, theset of instructions 358 includes instructions to display a message onthe display (e.g., 313 and 110). The content of the message relates tothe set of information. For example, the message may offer a user aproduct or service relating to a video segment. In some implementations,the message is displayed by the message module 356. In someimplementations, the set of instructions 358 includes instructions tosend an email message or SMS message to a user associated with theclient device 103. For example, the email message or SMS message mayinclude a coupon or promotional offer. In some implementations, theemail message or SMS message is sent by the message module 356.

In some implementations, the set of instructions 350 includesinstructions to execute one or more applications 328. Examples ofapplications are discussed in the discussion of FIGS. 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E.The parsing detection module 126 executes the set of instructions 350received from the server.

Each of the above identified elements may be stored in one or more ofthe previously mentioned memory devices, and each of the modules orprograms corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a functiondescribed above. The set of instructions can be executed by one or moreprocessors (e.g., the CPUs 302). The above identified modules orprograms (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented asseparate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus varioussubsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged invarious implementations. In some implementations, memory 306 may store asubset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore,memory 306 may store additional modules and data structures notdescribed above.

Although FIG. 3 shows a client device, FIG. 3 is intended more asfunctional description of the various features which may be present in aclient device than as a structural schematic of the implementationsdescribed herein. In practice, and as recognized by those of ordinaryskill in the art, items shown separately could be combined and someitems could be separated.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 4, which is a flow diagramillustrating a process 400 of displaying information, according to someimplementations. FIG. 4 provides an overview of the methods described ingreater detail in the discussion of FIGS. 6 and 7. A broadcast system128 sends a video stream containing closed captions to a client 102(401). The video stream containing closed captions is received at aclient 102 (402). A set of information is determined from the closedcaptions (404). The set of information is sent to a server 106 remotelylocated from the client 102 for processing (406). The server 106receives the set of information (408). The server 106 identifies one ormore relevant identities from the set of information, determines a setof instructions associated with the one or more relevant identities andsends the set of instructions to the client 102 (410). The client 102receives the set of instructions from the server 106 (412). The client102 executes one or more applications in accordance with the set ofinstructions (414).

Attention is now directed to FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E, whichillustrate exemplary screen shots according to some implementations.FIGS. 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E illustrate applications that are executed by aclient device 102. The applications in FIGS. 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E areinvoked and controlled by a set of instructions determined based on thecontent of the closed captions 504 contained in the television program502. As discussed in greater detail in the discussion of FIG. 6, amodule (e.g., parsing module 126) on a client device 102: receives avideos steam such as a television program 502, determines a set ofinformation from the closed captions 504 of the television program 502,sends the set of information to a server (e.g., server 106) to obtain aset of instructions, receives the set of instructions from the serverand invokes one or more applications on the client device 102 inaccordance with the set of instructions. The television programs 502 andapplications are concurrently displayed on a display of a client device102. The illustrations in FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E should be viewedas exemplary but not restrictive in nature.

FIG. 5A illustrates a screen shot displaying a television program 502that includes closed captions 504. As shown in FIG. 5A, the content ofthe closed captions 504 is “Hello World!” which may correspond to spokendialogue in the television program 502.

FIG. 5B illustrates a feed reader application 506 displayed adjacent toa television program 502. In the context of FIG. 5B, the parsing module126 on the client device 102 receives the television program 502,determines a set of information from the closed captions 504 of thetelevision program 502, sends the set of information to a server 106 toobtain a set of instructions, receives the set of instructions from theserver 106 and invokes the feed reader application 506 on the clientdevice 102 in accordance with the set of instructions received from theserver 106. The feed reader application 506 displays a content feed 508.One or more content items 510 in the content feed 508 are selected bythe server 106 based on information derived from the closed captions 504contained in the television program 502. For example, a user may bewatching a sports related television program 502 and when thecorresponding closed captions 504 mentions a sports teams (e.g., TeamX), the feed reader application 506 is invoked and the content itemSports Headline 1 510 is displayed. In the context of FIG. 5B, thecontent item 510 is chosen by the instruction module 118 on the server106 based on information or instructions derived from the closedcaptions 504.

FIG. 5C illustrates a media player 512 displayed concurrently with atelevision program 502. In the context of FIG. 5C, the parsing module126 on the client device 102 receives the television program 502,determines a set of information from the closed captions 504 of thetelevision program 502, sends the set of information to server 106 toobtain a set of instructions, receives the set of instructions from theserver 106 and invokes the media player 512 on the client device 102 inaccordance with the set of instructions received from the server 106.The media player 512 performs one or more operations based oninformation derived from the closed captions 504 contained in thetelevision program 502. For example, the closed captions 504 of thetelevision program 502 may mention an artist and when the user views theportion of the television program 502 containing the closed captions 504that relate to the artist, the media application 512 is invoked and theuser is prompted to add a song from the artist to the user's playlist.

FIG. 5D illustrates a web browser 516 displayed adjacent to a televisionprogram 502. In the context of FIG. 5D, the parsing module 126 on theclient device 102 receives the television program 502, determines a setof information from the closed captions 504 of the television program502, sends the set of information to a server (e.g., server 106) toobtain a set of instructions, receives the set of instructions from theserver and invokes the web browser 516 on the client device 102 inaccordance with the set of instructions received from the server. Insome implementations, the browser 516 displays a web page 508 chosenbased on information derived from the closed captions 504 contained inthe television program 502. The closed captions 504 may containinformation relating to a person, place or thing. For example, theclosed captions 504 may reference the name of a historical figure andwhen the user views the portion of the closed captions 504 containingthe reference to the historical figure, the web browser 516 invokes aweb page 508 (e.g., a Wikipedia page) providing information about thehistorical figure. In another example, the closed captions 504 maymention a product during a commercial and when the user views theportion of the closed captions 504 containing the reference to theproduct, the browser 516 displays a web page 508 relating to the product(e.g., a product page). When the user views the portion of the videostream containing the closed captions 504, the browser application 516is invoked and the 506 browser is navigated to a website determinedbased on the content of the closed captions 504.

FIG. 5E illustrates a coupon book application 518. In someimplementations, the coupon book application 518 performs one or moreoperations based on information derived from the closed captions 504. Inthe context of FIG. 5E, the parsing module 126 on the client device 102receives the television program 502, determines a set of informationfrom the closed captions 504 of the television program 502, sends theset of information to a server 106 to obtain a set of instructions,receives the set of instructions from the server 106 and invokes thecoupon book application 518 on the client device 102 in accordance withthe set of instructions received from the server. For example, a usermay view a commercial about pearl milk tea and the closed captions 504may mention the product. The coupon application 518 is invoked and theuser is prompted to save a coupon to the user's coupon book while theuser is viewing the commercial,

FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 for displaying information. Such methodis useful for broadcasters and content providers that desire to provideinformation and services relating to content while the content isplayed. Such method is useful for content viewers who desire relevantinformation about content they view.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 6 which is a flow diagram illustratinga method 600 of displaying information determined based on closedcaptions contained in a video stream. The method 600 is performed at aclient device 102 having one or more processors and memory. A videostream including closed captions is received (602). For example, thevideo stream may correspond to a television program, movie or commercialwith closed captions that relate to and are coordinated with the videocontent. In some implementations, the video stream is received by thevideo input 350, the TV tuner 352 or the network interface 308 of theclient device 102. In some implementations, the video stream is receivedfrom the broadcast system 128. For example, the video stream may bereceived over a network connection, a satellite receiver, a cable box orby an over-the-air antenna.

A set of information 350 is determined from the closed caption (604). Insome implementations, the set of information 350 includes informationfrom the content of the closed captions. For example, the set ofinformation 350 may include text from the content of the closedcaptions. In some implementations, the set of information 350 consistsof alphabet characters, numbers, symbols or any combination thereof. Theset of information 350 is determined by the parsing module 126.

In some implementations, the determining includes determining one ormore symbols and the set of information 350 includes the determined oneor more symbols (606). Stated in another way, in some implementations,the parsing module 126 parses the content of the closed captions todetermine one or more symbols and includes the determined one or moresymbols in the set of information 350. In some implementations, thedetermining includes determining one or more symbols and a predefinedamount of text following the symbol. The one or more symbols andpredefined amount of text following the symbol are included in the setof information 350. For example, a broadcaster or content provider mayinsert a “#” symbol into the closed captions of a video stream to signalthat text following the symbol is information from which instructionsshould be derived. For example, a closed caption may include “#actorperson x” to indicate that person x is an actor. In someimplementations, the text following the symbol may include instructionsor information from which instructions should be derived. For example,the parsing module 126 detects and parses the string “#browser URL” fromthe closed caption and includes the parsed string into the set ofinformation 350. The parsing module 126 sends the set of information 350including the parsed string to a server 106 and in response receives aset of instructions 358. The set of instructions 358 corresponding tothe parsed string may invoke a web browser on the client device 106 andopen a webpage corresponding to the URL in the parsed string. A contentprovider may insert special characters or symbols in the closed captionsof a video stream in order to provide information relating to the videostream. The relevant information is displayed concurrently with thevideo stream.

In some implementations, the determining includes determining one ormore sentences in the closed captions and the set of information 350includes the determined one or more sentences (608). The parsing module126 parses to content of the closed captions to determine one or moresentences and includes the determined sentences in the set ofinformation 350. For example, the parsing module 126 may detectsentences by detecting periods or other punctuation marks in the contentof the closed captions.

In some implementations, the determining includes determining one ormore proper nouns in the closed captions and the set of information 350includes the one or more pronouns (610). The parsing module 126 parsesthe content of the closed captions to determine one or more proper nounsand includes the determined one or more proper nouns in the set ofinformation 350. In some implementations, the one or more proper nounsare selected if they match one or more proper nouns stored in theparsing module 126. The proper nouns may correspond to a person, placeor thing. For example, the parsing module 126 may parse the content ofthe closed captions to determine the names of one or more people, thename of a product or company or the name of a country. In someimplementations, the parsing module 126 selects capitalized words in theclosed captions and includes the capitalized words in the set ofinformation 350.

In some implementations, the video stream is displayed and the set ofinformation 350 is determined while the video stream is being displayed(612). The video stream is displayed on the display 313 of the clientdevice 102. A request 220 including the set of information 350 is sentto a server 106 remotely located from the client 102 for processing(614). The processing determines a set of instructions 358 based on theset of information 350. The set of instructions 358 include instructionsto display information relating to the closed captions of a video streamto be displayed. The request 358 is generated and sent by the requestmodule 352.

A set of instructions 358 is received from the server (616). The set ofinstructions 358 includes instructions to display information relatingto the set of information 350 (616). In some implementations, the set ofinstructions 358 is contained in a content feed. The set of instructions258 is received by the parsing module 126.

One or more functions and/or applications are executed in accordancewith the set of instruction 358 in response to receiving the set ofinstructions 350 (616). In some implementations, the one or moreapplications are selected from the group consisting of a mediaapplication, a feed reader application, a browser application and acoupon book application (620). For example, as shown in FIG. 5C, set ofinstructions 358 may invoke a media player application 512 and promptthe user to add a song to the user's playlist. In some implementations,the video stream is displayed and the one or more applications aredisplayed adjacent to the video steam (622). For example, as shown inFIG. 5B, a feed reader application 508 is displayed concurrently with atelevision program 502. The one or more applications are discussed ingreater detail in the discussion of FIGS. 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E. The one ormore applications are executed by the parsing module 126.

In some implementations, one or more content files are received from theserver (621). The set of instructions 358 includes instructions todisplay the one or more content files and executing the one or moreapplications includes displaying the one or more received content file(621). For example, a web page may be received and the set ofinstructions 358 includes instructions to invoke a web browser todisplay the webpage.

In some implementations, the set of instructions 358 includesinstructions to display a message. The content of the message relates tothe set of information 350. For example, a URL for a product's websitemay be displayed or a snippet of information relating to a televisionprogram may be displayed. In some implementations, the set ofinstructions 358 includes instructions to send a message (e.g., email orSMS) to a user associated with the client 102. For example, the messagemay include a coupon, a link to a coupon, a song, a link to a song,information about a television program or movie and links toinformation. The message module 356 displays and sends messages.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 700 of generating a setof instructions based on information derived from closed captions. Themethod 700 is performed at a server system 106 having one or moreprocessors and memory. In some implementations, a request 220 includinga set of information 350 is received from a client 102 (702). In someimplementations, the request 220 includes a user identifier. The set ofinformation 350 was extracted from closed captions in a video stream(704). One or more relevant identities 234 are identified from the setof information 350 (704). In some implementations, a plurality ofrelevant identities are identified using the set of information 350 anda subset of the plurality of relevant identities are selected based onthe importance metric 242 associated with the relevant identities. Forexample, the identification module 114 may select the relevant identitywith the highest importance metric 242. In some implementations, the oneor more relevant identities 234 are determined in response to receivingthe request 220. The identification module 114 matches information inthe set of information 350 to one or more identities 234 in the identitydatabase 130. The one or more relevant identities 234 may correspond toa person, place or thing.

A set of instructions 358 associated with the set of information isdetermined (708). In some implementations, the set of instructions 358is determined in response to receiving the request 220. In someimplementations, the set of instructions 358 is determined based on theidentified one or more relevant identities 234 (710). In someimplementations, a relevant identity 234 includes a plurality ofassociated actions. For example, a relevant identity 234 may be the nameof a basketball player and the associated actions include displaying avideo highlight of the basketball player's most recent game ordisplaying a web page about the basketball player. The instructionmodule 118 selects one or more of the plurality of associated actionsbased on user preferences 250 for the user corresponding to the useridentifier 246. For example, the user's information may includepreferences that indicate categories of information that the user is oris not interested in. For example, a relevant identity 234 may be thename of a person who is an actor, athlete and musician and the user'spreference may indicate an affinity towards sports and music. In thisexample, the resulting set of instructions 358, in one implementation,would be related to the person's activity as a musician or athlete. Insome implementations, the user's preferences indicate applications theuser likes or dislikes. For example, a user may have an affinity towardsreceiving coupons via a coupon application and content items via a feedreader application.

In some implementations, the set of instructions 358 is determined basedon one or more content files associated with the identified one or morerelevant identities 234. In some implementations, one or more contentfiles associated with the relevant identities are determined by theidentification module 114 (714). The set of instructions 358 includeinstruction to display the one or more content files (714). In someimplementations, the identification module 114 identifies the one ormore content files by searching the content database 122 using the nameof the identity as a query. For example, one of the relevant identities234 may be the name of a product and one or more coupons may beassociated with the product. In another example, one of the relevantidentities 234 may be a musician and the identification module 114identifies a song by the musician from the content database 122. In someimplementations, the associated actions 244 for a respective identityspecify one or more content files. The instruction module 118 searchesfor the specified content files in the content database 122 and selectsa content file in accordance with a metric associated with the contentfiles. For example, the instruction module 118 may select a contentfiled based on the popularity of the files. After the instruction module118 identifies a content file, the instruction module determines anapplication to display or play the content file and generates a set ofinstructions 358 that causes the determined application to display thecontent file.

In some implementations, the set of instructions 358 includeinstructions for executing an application selected from the groupconsisting of a media application, a feed reader application, a browserapplication and a coupon book application (712).

In some implementations, the set of instructions 358 includesinstructions to display a message on the client device 102. The contentof the message relates to the set of information 350. For example, a URLfor a product's website may be displayed or a snippet of informationrelating to a television program may be displayed. In someimplementations, the set of instructions 358 includes instructions tosend a message (e.g., email or SMS) to a user associated with theclient. The message may include a coupon, a link to a coupon, a song, alink to a song, information about a television program or movie andlinks to information. The set of instructions 358 is generated by theinstruction module 118.

The set of instructions 358 is sent to the client 102 (716). In someimplementations, the set of instructions 358 is sent in a content feed.In some implementations, one or more content files are sent along withthe one or more instructions (718). For example, a playlist, media file,advertisement or feed stored in the content database 122 may be sentalong with the set of instructions 358. The set of instructions 358 andoptionally the one or more content files are sent by the instructionmodule 118.

Each of the methods described herein may be governed by instructionsthat are stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium andthat are executed by one or more processors of one or more servers(e.g., server system 106). Each of the operations shown in FIGS. 6 and 7may correspond to instructions stored in a computer memory or computerreadable storage medium.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific implementations. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the methods and systems to the precise forms disclosed. Manymodifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings. The implementations were chosen and described in order tobest explain the principles of the methods and systems and theirpractical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art tobest utilize the techniques and devices described herein and variousimplementations with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

Moreover, in the foregoing description, numerous specific details areset forth to provide a thorough understanding of the presentimplementation. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that the methods described herein may be practiced without theseparticular details. In other instances, methods, procedures, components,and networks that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the artare not described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the presentimplementation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: at a computing devicehaving one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs tobe executed by the one or more processors: obtaining a video streamconfigured to be displayed to a user of the computing device, the videostream including closed captions; identifying a set of information itemsincluding one or more symbols or words in closed captions of the videostream, wherein the one or more symbols or words include one or morespecial characters and a predefined amount of text following the one ormore special characters, and the one or more special characters areinserted into the closed captions to signal that the text following theone or more special characters is relevant for generating a set ofinstructions; transmitting the one or more symbols or words to a server;after transmitting the one or more symbols or words to the server,obtaining from the server (1) the set of instructions for execution onthe computing device and (2) information of one or more content filesrelated to the one or more symbols or words, wherein the server isdistinct from a source of the video stream, and the set of instructionsincludes instructions to execute an application on the computing deviceand display the one or more content files using the application on thecomputing device; and in response to obtaining the set of instructions,without user intervention, causing the application to be invoked fordisplaying the one or more content files by the computing device to theuser of the computing device concurrently with displaying of the videostream.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is selectedfrom the group consisting of a web browser application, a musicapplication, a feed reader application and a coupon application.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the set of information items includes a nouncorresponding to a person, place or thing, and the information of theone or more content files includes a link to a web page about theperson, place or thing identified by the noun.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the set of information items includes a noun corresponding to aperson, and the information of the one or more content files includes amedia playlist of media items associated with the person identified bythe noun.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more contentfiles are selected from a group consisting of web pages, video clips,pictures, songs and news stories that the text following the one or morespecial characters is associated with, and determined as interestingaccording to a user based metrics associated with the content files. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more symbols or words includenon-speech information extracted from the closed captions.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the one or more symbols or words include at leastone sentence extracted from the closed captions.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein the one or more symbols or words include informationidentifying a person, and in accordance with a determination that theperson identified is associated with a predefined importance value,obtaining the set of instructions in accordance with the predefinedimportance value associated with the identified person.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: obtaining the set of instructions inaccordance with preferences associated with the user of the computingdevice.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the preferences include apreference of the user for a first media content application over asecond media content application.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein thepreferences include a preference of the user for a first type of mediacontent over a second type of media content.
 12. The method of claim 1,further comprising: determining a content category for the video streamin accordance with the one or more symbols or words; and the set ofinstructions for execution on the computing device include: instructionsto display content information in accordance with the determined mediacontent category.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the computingdevice includes a display selected from: a TV screen, an LCD display, anLED display, and a touchscreen display.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein causing the application to be invoked for displaying the one ormore content files further includes: causing the application to beinvoked for displaying the one or more content files on a second displaydevice to the user of the computing device concurrently with displayingof the video stream on a first display device that is distinct from thesecond display device.
 15. A computer system, comprising: one or moreprocessors; and memory storing one or more programs for execution by theone or processors, wherein the one or more programs comprisinginstructions for: obtaining a video stream configured to be displayed toa user of the computing device, the video stream including closedcaptions; identifying a set of information items including one or moresymbols or words in closed captions of the video stream, wherein the oneor more symbols or words include one or more special characters and apredefined amount of text following the one or more special characters,and the one or more special characters are inserted into the closedcaptions to signal that the text following the one or more specialcharacters is relevant for generating a set of instructions;transmitting the one or more symbols or words to a server; aftertransmitting the one or more symbols or words to the server, obtainingfrom the server (1) the set of instructions for execution on thecomputing device and (2) information of one or more content filesrelated to the one or more symbols or words, wherein the server isdistinct from a source of the video stream, and the set of instructionsincludes instructions to execute an application on the computing deviceand display the one or more content files using the application on thecomputing device; and in response to obtaining the set of instructions,without user intervention, causing the application to be invoked fordisplaying the one or more content files by the computing device to theuser of the computing device concurrently with displaying of the videostream.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the application is selectedfrom the group consisting of a web browser application, a musicapplication, a feed reader application and a coupon application.
 17. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the set of information items includes a nouncorresponding to a person, place or thing, and the information of theone or more content files includes a link to a web page about theperson, place or thing identified by the noun.
 18. The system of claim15, wherein the set of information items includes a noun correspondingto a person, and the information of the one or more content filesincludes a media playlist of media items associated with the personidentified by the noun.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the one ormore content files are selected from a group consisting of web pages,video clips, pictures and news stories that the text following the oneor more special characters is associated with, and determined asinteresting according to a user based metrics associated with thecontent files.
 20. A non-transitory computer readable storage mediumstoring one or more programs configured for execution by one or moreprocessors of a computer system, the one or more programs comprisinginstructions for: obtaining a video stream configured to be displayed toa user of the computing device, the video stream including closedcaptions; identifying a set of information items including one or moresymbols or words in closed captions of the video stream, wherein the oneor more symbols or words include one or more special characters and apredefined amount of text following the one or more special characters,and the one or more special characters are inserted into the closedcaptions to signal that the text following the one or more specialcharacters is relevant for generating a set of instructions;transmitting the one or more symbols or words to a server; aftertransmitting the one or more symbols or words to the server, obtainingfrom the server (1) the set of instructions for execution on thecomputing device and (2) information of one or more content filesrelated to the one or more symbols or words, wherein the server isdistinct from a source of the video stream, and the set of instructionsincludes instructions to execute an application on the computing deviceand display the one or more content files using the application on thecomputing device; and in response to obtaining the set of instructions,without user intervention, causing the application to be invoked fordisplaying the one or more content files by the computing device to theuser of the computing device concurrently with displaying of the videostream.